Australia lose three pacers
Mitch Starc has been hampered by foot injuries over the past few months while all-rounder Marcus Stoinis is nursing a back injury. Mitch Marsh had a finger injury that he picked up during the Test series against Pakistan earlier this year. The only established paceman left in Australia’s ODI squad is Jhye Richardson, but he might have to deal with an ankle injury going into the first ODI on September 17th in Dharamsala.
After building their team around three seamers’ heavy attack for much of this decade, suddenly Australia has lost their three frontline quicks from the Test series against England (Mitchell Starc) to now include two frontline pacers from ODIs. They will be hoping that they can call upon Glenn Maxwell to play as a makeshift medium pacer – something he hasn’t done since 2009.
Umesh Yadav gets a recall
With a view to the limited-overs leg of the England tour, selectors on Saturday picked 32-year-old right-arm fast bowler Umesh Yadav. He was last seen in Indian colors in July 2017. Yadav will replace injured pacer Mitch Starc while Jhye Richardson has been preferred over David Warner as an additional batsman. Matt Renshaw will get another chance at the opener’s slot. This selection also means that Glenn Maxwell has regained his place in Australia’s World Cup squad after he was left out for Australia’s three T20 Internationals against England with a groin injury. National selector Trevor Hohns said they wanted him to play some cricket before the ICC event. We have monitored his progress closely and believe it is best if he gets some matches under his belt before we finalize our World Cup plans, Hohns said.
Jason Behrendorff and Joel Paris come in
Aussies head to the subcontinent without four frontline fast bowlers and with only three specialist batsmen (due to the ODI changes). Chris Lynn is in too. Warner has stressed the importance of a dynamic batting line-up. Cricket Betting Tips reckons that Indians will give a tough fight but they can’t keep it up for five Tests and all point towards Australia winning at least two games and losing one game.
Manish Pandey replaces injured KL Rahul
Pandey was recalled to the squad for the first time since the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. He made his Test debut at Lord’s earlier this year before going on to play in five ODIs against England. Pandey last played for Australia against New Zealand in February 2016 and has been plagued by inconsistency since then.
His introduction means Maxwell might be considered an allrounder now with Aaron Finch also adding important runs down the order. The rest of the squad will stay unchanged. Glenn Maxwell is expected to bat at No 3 while Shaun Marsh is set to occupy the No 4 spot. Peter Handscomb is likely to open alongside Matt Renshaw. Matthew Wade will continue behind the stumps, despite coming under fire from pundits after the Mumbai defeat where he scored a solitary run off 25 balls.
